Packing strip



June 2, 1953 w. P. BOYSEN PACKING STRIP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 6, 1952 June 2, 1953 w. P. BOYSEN 2,640,794

- PACKING STRIP Filed June 6, 1952 z'sne ts-sheet 2 1 lg E9 J! ZL/iZZarJ PRBOySIZ Patented June 2, 1953 UNI TE D STATES ram" OFFICE 8 Claims.

Thepresent invention relates to a packing strip for protecting. articles against damage to their surfaces during handling, shipping and storage.

When bulky articles, having easily blemished surfaces, such as refrigerators, cooking ranges, furniture and cabinets, are shipped, it is customam to protectv the surfaces of such articles from being chipped or scratched by wrapping them, and/or, by applying to them separated strips or pieces. of shock-absorbing material. disadvantages of this, procedure resides in the costv of the time, labor and materials that must be expended in preparing such articles for shipment- The services of two or more men are usually required, one to hold the several strips or pieces of cushioning material against the article. and another to secure the pieces in their proper positions.

The present invention provides an improved packing strip that is of composite construction but easily handled as, a unit assembly, and that has. a shock-absorbent cushioning layer and, preferably, a. relatively soft, continuous strip of wadding material for directly contacting the surface of the article to be wrapped to avoid any possibility of scratching or marring the finish of the article, Means are also provided in association with. the packing strip to receive. and to hold a flexible tie-band. in position lengthwise thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of cushioning. sections, of a built-up laminated corrugated board structure. are secured to a continuous strip of corrugated board, faced preferably with relatively soft wadding material, continuous portions of the corrugated board strip and of the wedding material between the adjacent cushioning sections providing a, convenient hinge upon which the packing strip may be folded to reduce its bulk for shipping and storage purposes, and to'keep the wadding from injury, and clean and free from grit, dirt and the like.

An object. of the present invention is to provide. an improved packing strip of composite structime but easy to handle and apply, for protecting the surfaces of large articles during shipment.

Another object of the present invention is, to provide a packing strip which can be rapidly applied to bulky articles by a single: workman.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hinged, sectional packing strip which can be conveniently folded for shipping and storage purposes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hinged packing stri of a laminated board structure of varying thickness One of the but substantially constant width and including 4 I 2 means for receiving and holding a flexible Wire or band in position along the outer surface thereof to serve as, a tie for the strip to hold the same. securely in place on the article to be shipped.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and the at.- tached' sheets of drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a refrigerator ready for shipment having one or more packing strips of the present invention disposed therearound;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the re.- frigerator of Figure 1 illustrating the positioning of three separate packing. strips therearound;

Figure 3 is a broken side elevational viewv of the packing strip in extendedposition;

Figure 4 is an, enlarged cross-sectional view of the packing strip taken substantially along. the line IV'IV of Figure 3;

Figure 5' is a greatly enlarged detail view of the hinge structure of my packing strip;

Figure 6 is a plan view of a second form of packing strip, shown folded to reduce its bulk for storage purposes;

Figure '7' is an enlarged end elevational view showing the laminated structure of the packing strip of Figure 6';

Figure 8 is a planview of a third form of packing strip shown in folded position;

Figure 9 is a greatly enlarged detail view'of' the hinge structure of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary, greatly enlarged side el'evational view of thef'orm shown in Figure 8; and

Figure 11 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional View taken along the line XI-XI of Figure 10;

In Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated. an enamel-surfaced refrigerator Ill provided with composite packing strips ll of my invention" en'- circling the upper, middle, and lower portions of the refrigerator Ill;

As shown in greater detail in Figures. 3, 4 and 5, each packing strip I I is composed of a plurality of sections, such as the-two secti'onsA andB here illustrated. The sections A and B- are formed from a single uniform width, strip of'multi-layer paper faced, corrugated board, almost completely severed transversely by a cut, indicated at C, to provide narrow strips 13 and I4- connected byan integral portion it-composed of a lesser number of' layers of the board, here shown as two layers (Fig. 5). Said portion 48 provides a hinge for folding the sections A and B against each other: "The continuous paper facings of said portion 4a impart sufficient tensile strength to the, hinge;

Preferably; al'ayer i2 ofsoft-cellulosicwadding is secured, as by means of adhesive, to the planar surfaces of the continuous surface layer-of the strips I3 and M. A wadding formed of a plurality of layers of very thin cellulose fibre tissue is suitable for this purpose, since it presents a soft, yielding, non-scratching surface to the surface of the article that is to be protected.

On the other side of the strips l3 and H from the layer l2, and adjacent the crack C, are positioned built-up portions and I6, which may be lengths of multi-layer corrugated board of the desired thickness and of the same width as the strips l3 and H, to which they are adhesively secured.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the built-up portions l5 and It may be conveniently positioned along the door of the refrigerator H) to protect not only the surface of the door but also the projecting door handle l9.

The corrugated strips l3 and M, as well as the built-up portions |5 and H; are grooved lengthwise along their outer surfaces, and preferably medially thereof, as illustrated in Figure 4, toprovide a slot 20 for receiving a continuous, flexible securing tie-band 2| of steel or other strong, flexible strip material. As seen in Figure 4, the width of the slot 28 is initially slightly less than the width of the band 2| so that as the band 2| is pressed into the slot, the lateral edges of the band 2| and/or of the slot 20 first deflect somewhat to allow the band to be received into the slot 20 and then bite into the sides of the slot, thereby holding the band 2| in place against inadvertent displacement without the necessity of providing additional securing means. The band 2| is still free to slide longitudinally of the packing strip, but is restrained against lateral or perpendicular displacement. Depending upon the conditions of use and assembly, the slot 2|] may be narrower than the band 2|, equal to, or even wider than the band. As best seen in Figure 3, the ends 2 Ia and 2 lb of the metal band 2| extend beyond the free ends of the corrugated strips I3 and M to be overlapped and joined, as at 24, when positioned in place.

When the corrugated strips |3 and M are folded against each other for storage or shipping, before positioning the tie-band 2| in the slot 2|), the integral central portion 40 of the surface layer of the sections I3 and I4 and the portion |2a of the continuous layer |2 of wadding material acts as a hinge to permit such folding of the sections A and B of the packing strip Also, since the wadding layer I2 is then on the inside of the folded strip, the soft wadding is protected from injury during shipping and storage. Instead of wadding, other surfacing material, such as a wax film, may be used, or, where softness is not essential, the paper faced surface of the corrugated board, itself, is sufliciently non-scratching for direct contact with the surface of the article to be protected.

For ease of shipping to the point of use, the packing strips I may be shipped in folded form separate from the tie-bands 2|, and the bands then assembled in place on the packing strips by the operators who do the packing. The assembly of the bands in place on the strips is a very simple operation, due to the provision of the aligned slots forming the groove 20. Each strip I is stretched out fiat, as shown in Figure 3, and the band 2| laid along the groove 20 and pressed thereinto, either by hand or by some mechanism such as a traveling finger, roll or the like of the proper width. As the band 2| is being incrementally pressed into the slot along its entire length, the edges of the slot either give sufficiently to permit the entrance of the slightly wider band, or the edges of the band deflect sumciently to let the band be pressed into the bottom of the groove. There, owing to the slightly greater width of the band relative to the width of the groove, the edges of the band bite into ,the walls of the groove. This arrangement tends to retain the band in its assembled position, so that thereafter the strip and band assembly can be handled as a single unit.

In applying the packing strip of the present invention to the article to be shipped, the strip is trained around the article with the built-up portions l4 and I5 outermost and disposed over those areas of the article for which maximum shock-resistance is to be provided. The ends of the strip 2| are then fastened together as by means of a staple 24 (Figure l) or other conventional fasteningmeans, after the tension on the band 2| has been adjusted to the proper degree. The tension should be suficient to hold the stripssecurely in place and to prevent jarring of any parts of the movable parts of the article, such as the door of the refrigerator, relative to other parts of the article. The soft wadding i2 is then in direct contact with the surface of the article, protecting the same against being scratched by the coarser portions of the strip. I

An alternative form of the present invention is illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. Since this form of the invention is substantially similar to that previously described, similar reference numerals are used. The main difference is that in place of or in addition to the slot 20 used to retain the band 2| lengthwise along the strip, this modified form of the invention employs a plurality of strips 26 of paper or the like spaced lengthwise along and adheslvely secured to the exposed surfaces of the strips l3 and i4, and the built-up portions l5 and It, to retain the tie-band 2| against displacement, while permitting the band 2| to slide relatively freely longitudinally of the strip.

A still further modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figures 8 to 11 of the drawings. In this form of the invention, the steel band 2| is replaced by a flexible Wire 27. The wire 21 is embedded in the packing strip beneath the outer surface of the strips l3 and M, as well as passing through the built-up portions |5 and N3 of the respective strips. The embedding of the wire 21 is effected by running it through aligned longitudinally extending channels provided by the corrugations 30, which must, therefore, extend lengthwise of the blocks |5 and It. In other respects, the strip illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 is identical with that previously described.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the packing strip of the present invention can be conveniently applied to even bulky articles by a single workman in less time than was required for two workmen to apply other types of packing material previously. Another distinct advantage is the fact that the packing strips of the present invention can be folded over into a strip of reduced bulk which can be handled conveniently for storage purposes. In addition, the strips of the present invention are economical to manufacture from readily available inexpensive materials of construction.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No. 195,088, filed November 10, v

It will be appreciated that various modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1 A packing strip comprising a laminated corrugated board structure of varying thickness 'but of constant width throughout its length,

there being a cut partially through said structure to provide cushioning sections having an integral connecting portion, and a continuous strip of soft fibrous padding material secured to corresponding faces of said cushioning sections the full width thereof and providing with said connecting portion a hinge between said cushioning sections whereby said cushioning sections can be folded against each other with said padding therebetween, the backs of said sections opposite said continuous padding strip having slots extending lengthwise thereof, and a tie-band of greater length than said slotspositioned therein and continuous between said sections.

2. A packing strip comprising an elongated, hinged, sectional cushioning strip of multi-layer corrugated board of varying thickness but constant width throughout the length of said strip, at least one layer of said board providing a continuous planar surface, a continuous strip of soft padding material secured to said planar surface continuous of the sections of said cushioning strip, the opposite face of said strip having a slot therein of a width such as to engage tightl a flexible band when inserted therein, and a flexible band for positioning in said slot to serve as a tie-band for holding said strip in position on the article to be packed.

3. A packing strip comprising an elongated, hinged, sectional cushioning strip of multi-layer corrugated board of varying thickness but constant width throughout the length of said strip, at least one layer of said board providing a corn tinuous planar surface and a hinge between said sections, a continuous strip of soft fibrous padding material secured to said planar surface of said cushioning strip, a flexible tie-band passing lengthwise of said cushioning strip along its entire length and extending beyond the ends of said cushioning strip, and means retaining said flexible tie-band in position adjacent the outer surface opposite said planar surface of said cush ioning strip with relative freedom of movement lengthwise thereof.

4. A packing strip comprising an elongated, hinged, sectional cushioning strip of multi-layer corrugated board of varying thickness but constant width throughout the length of said strip, at least one layer of said board providing a continuous planar surface and a hinge between sections, a continuous strip of soft padding material secured to said planar surface, the other face of said strip having a slot extending lengthwise thereof, and a flexible tie-band seated in said slot, the width of said slot being slightly less than the width of said band, whereby said band engages the walls of said slot in biting engagement.

5. A packing strip comprising a plurality of hinged sections of multi-layercorrugated board of substantially uniform width and having a continuous surface layer providing the hinge between said sections and lying in a single plane when said sections are laid outin alignment, each of said sections having built-up portions to provide greater cushioning properties, and a continuous layer of felted soft fibrous padding adhesively secured to said planar surface, the opposite surfaces of said corrugated board construction and of said built-up portions having longitudinally extending slots aligned to provide a groove for receiving and retaining a tie-band.

6. A packing strip comprising a plurality of hinged sections of substantially uniform width and having on one side a continuous surface layer providing the hinge between said sections and lying in a single plane when said sections are laid out in alignment, each of said sections being of laminated corrugated board construe tion and having built-up portions to provide greater cushioning properties, a continuous layer of laminated soft fibrous padding adhesively secured to said planar surface, the opposite surfaces of said corrugated board construction and of said built-up portions having longitudinally extending slots aligned to provide a groove for receiving and retaining a tie-band, and a tieband of greater length than said groove positioned in said groove and continuous between said sections.

'7. A packing strip comprising an elongated, hinged, built-up sectional cushioning strip of multi-layer corrugated board of varying stepped thicknesses longitudinally therealong but of constant width throughout the length of said strip, one layer of said board providing an inner planar surface, a continuous strip of soft padding'material secured to said planar surface throughout the length thereof and extending between adjacent ends of sections of said built-up cushioning strip to afford a hinge therebetween, whereby said cushioning strip sections can be folded about said hinge with said strip of padding on the inside and therefore protected during shipment, a flexible band of lesser width and greater length than said cushioning strip extending along the outer surface thereof and means retaining said flexible band in position against said outer surface with relative freedom of movement lengthwise thereof.

8. A packing strip comprising an elongated, hinged, built-up sectional cushioning strip of multi-layer corrugated board of varying stepped thicknesses longitudinally therealong but of constant width throughout the length of said strip, one layer of said board providing an inner planar surface, a continuous strip of soft padding material secured to said planar surface throughout the length thereof and extending between adjacent ends of sections of said built-up cushioning strip to afford a hinge therebetween, whereby said cushioning strip sections can be folded about said hinge with said strip of padding on the inside and therefore protected during shipment, a fiexible band of lesser width and greater length than said cushioning strip extending along the outer surface thereof and means retaining said flex" ibleband in position against said outer surface with relative freedom of movement lengthwise thereof.

WILLARD P. BOYSEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 633,360 Ferres Sept. 19, 1899 1,356,593 Bettiker Oct. 26, 1920 1,778,955 Morrill Oct. 21, 1930 2,142,547 Anderson Jan. 3, 1939 2,251,402 Drew Aug. 5, 1941 2,499,463 Crary Mar. '7, 1950 2,560,923 Boersma et a1 July 17, 1951 2,570,614 Wall et a1. Oct. 9, 1951 

1. A PACKING STRIP COMPRISING A LAMINATED CORRUGATED BOARD STRUCTURE OF VARYING THICKNESS BUT OF CONSTANT WIDTH THROUGH OUT ITS LENGTH, THERE BEING A CUT PARTIALLY THROUGH SAID STRUCTURE TO PROVIDE CUSHIONING SECTIONS HAVING AN INTEGRAL CONNECTING PORTION, AND A CONTINUOUS STRIP OF SOFT FIBROUS PADDING MATERIAL SECURED TO CORRESPONDING FACES OF SAID CUSHIONING SECTIONS THE FULL WIDTH THEREOF AND PROVIDING WITH SAID CONNECTING PORTION A HINGE BETWEEN SAIC CUSHIONING SECTIONS WHEREBY SAID CUSHIONING SECTIONS CAN BE FOLDED AGAINST EACH OTHER WITH SAID PADDING THEREBETWEEN, THE BACKS OF SAID SECTIONS OPPOSITE SAID CONTINUOUS PADDING STRIP HAVING SLOTS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE THEREOF, AND A TIE-BAND OF GREATER LENGTH THAN SAID SLOTS POSTIONED THEREIN AND CONTINUOUS BETWEEN SAID SECTIONS. 